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Detroit committee hears public pleas to curb ICE activity and improve bus service
Summary
Public commenters at the Detroit Public Health & Safety committee on Jan. 12 urged limits on ICE enforcement, unmasking of federal agents, better Detroit Department of Transportation service and consideration of a summer fare-free pilot; councilmembers and staff pledged follow-up.
Council member Gabriela Santiago Romero, chair of the Public Health & Safety Standing Committee, opened the Jan. 12 meeting with two minutes of public comment and heard a string of callers who pressed the council on immigration enforcement and transit reliability.
Brother Cunningham, an in-person commenter, criticized the Detroit Department of Transportation and described the system as "gentrification on steroids," saying "it shouldn't be this hard to have buses that are clean. It shouldn't be this hard for buses to be on time." He urged the council to pursue creative sponsorships for fare-free pilot programs.
Several remote callers asked the committee to take steps to limit ICE activity in the city. Susan Steigerwald, speaking as an individual and a member of Democratic Socialists of America, urged the council to explore measures such as unmasking federal immigration agents and other practices used elsewhere to reduce harms: "We need to try to figure out how to keep ICE out of the city," she said. Tahira Ahmad thanked council members for prioritizing human-trafficking work and joined calls for policies to reduce ICE presence in neighborhoods.
Other public commenters raised related concerns. Jadonte Smith urged downzoning in the Kronos area and warned against using eminent domain to site solar farms on private land. William M. Davis asked why the city rents space at "100 Mac" and questioned whether immigrants and the public can reliably identify federal agents during operations. Betty A. Varner, president of the DeSoto Ellsworth Black Association, described a community group called Saint Joseph Helpers and requested roughly $1,500 and volunteers for a land-use hearing and playground equipment for a neighborhood park.
Chair Gabriela Santiago Romero acknowledged the concerns and said the committee would continue to ask questions about federal agents in the city, noting limits on local authority over federal agencies. She also said staff estimated a shortfall of about $3,000,000 to run a fare-free pilot and that the council would explore options for sponsorship and service improvements so a pilot would not worsen riders' experiences.
The meeting included no formal policy vote on ICE-related measures; several members, including Vice Chair Denzel Anton McCampbell, expressed support for exploring accountability measures and learning from other jurisdictions.
The committee concluded public comment and moved on to agenda items; members said they would follow up on the transit and enforcement questions raised by callers and in-person commenters.
